King Khalid Military City

King Khalid Military City (KKMC) (Arabic: مدينة الملك خالد العسكرية; transliterated: Medinat Al-Malek Khaled Al-Askariyah) is a cantonment in northeastern Saudi Arabia, approximately 60 km (37 mi.)

[2] The Engineer Assistance Agreement, effective May 24, 1965, and extended several times, provides the basic framework for many Corps activities in Saudi Arabia.

The Agreement was entered into pursuant to section 507(a) of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, and is currently authorized by section 22 of the Arms Export Act with the Ministry of Defense and Aviation (MODA) further committing the (Mediterranean Division, later the Middle East Division) US Army Corps of Engineers, initially to design and construct three brigade-size military cantonments to house elements of the Saudi Arabian Army.

In March 1974, a $1.5 million contract was awarded to a joint venture with Sippican Architectural Engineering and Brown Daltas & Associates Rome, Italy office.

Without estimates of the City's population, the venture identified the architectural theme, required utilities, buildings, and facilities to MODA in May 1975 with a one brigade troop strength.

Corps personnel became increasingly concerned about Saudi Arabia’s ports' limited ability to handle the shipping volume needed to sustain the large construction projects under design.

Corps personnel presented to Prince Sultan the idea of constructing a port on the Saudi east coast at Ra's al Mish'ab near the border with Kuwait.

[2] Planning for the city began in 1974, and construction commenced after the establishment of a new Persian Gulf port in Ra's al-Mish'ab to handle all the materials being transported.

The project scope was extensive, involving the drilling of 21 new wells to provide water, the establishment of a new port for supplies, the construction of 3,387 double-story family housing units with utility tunnels, and the erection of five multi-domed mosques and associated facilities.

[3] Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine At its peak, hundreds of US Army Corps engineers and personnel called KKMC home, and within the Saudi military city, a small American community emerged.